The Assassin's Second
by YelenaZ
Summary: Sequel to The Assassin's Secretary. Valek and Yelena are now in Sitia to look for Neri in their latest mission. Rated T to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

This is the sequel to the Assassin's Secretary. For those that haven't read that fanfic yet, it's best if you do. If you don't you may find this fanfic confusing. Scratch that, you I _will _find it confusing. I will give a summary of what happened if asked for it but really, I suck at summaries. Also, I will be making some revisions to the Assassin's Secretary when I have some free time (get rid of grammatical errors, that sort of thing). Enjoy? :P

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Yelena POV:

This was possibly my living hell on earth. The confusion, the noise swirled around my like a relentless tornado, assaulting my senses with chaos.

"She's too old to be taught! Like people say, you can't teach a dog new tricks!" Roze Featherstone, the First Magician growled at Leif.

Leif had argued persistently with this mentor for the last 2 hours and seemed to have no signs of wanting to stop. If he _was_ my brother, I would have a hell of a time trying to reason with him. Good thing he's not. "She has to be taught though, nevertheless. Even if you don't teach her any fancy tricks, you should at least teach her how to control her power! One of your duties as First Magician is to preserve the power source. With the magnitude of my sister's flame-out, the power source will be completely decimated, _do you understand_?"

I gritted my teeth. This was taking far too long. Why was I wasting time by doing this when I could have been with Valek? And why couldn't we get another person to teach me to control my so called power? It seemed that Roze and I definitely were not going to get along in the future and it would be best for us to stay apart to prevent any bloodshed. Because right now, I was very close to just whipping out my bow and tripping her pettily, First Magician or not.

But no, Leif had insisted as soon as we had reached the Citadel that we should go to his old mentor. According to him, Roze was the stuff of legend when it came to magic, and besides, who better to teach me than the First Magician herself?

Meanwhile, Roze had momentarily fallen silent and was now panting with either cold rage or frustration. "You're right, " she stated icily, her face hardening. "I know exactly what needs to be done."

Without another word, she closed her eyes. The pressure and feeling of magic filled the air, robbing the breath from my lungs. Gasping for air, I tried in vain to suck more oxygen inside, only to have it blocked by a forceful wall in my throat.

Trying to push it away, I tried to set my own magic against hers, like I had done to Mogkan. But I couldn't. Her magic was like nothing I had ever encountered before. It swarmed around me with force, pressing in my skin, creating a thick barrier. As sparks started to dance in front of my eyes, my scrambling fingers managed to reach my bow in my pack. Jabbing blindly, I hit a solid object and the blockage in my throat ceased momentarily.

Sucking in great gulps of air, I simultaeneously swiped at Roze with my bow to finish her off, but this time, she managed to dodge. By this time, Leif had her in a stranglehold and her face was turning red in fury.

"Release me instantly, or I will be forced to use my magic against you," she said emotionlessly.

"Give me your word that you won't harm my sister again."

"It's as you said! I am First Magician, therefore I will have to perform my duties. This girl is a threat to all of Sitia, especially to the magicians. If she destroys the power source, what defense will we have when Ixia decides to invade? There is a balance that must be maintained. They have the weapons and soldiers, we have the magic. Besides, she's probably also a spy for the Commander. Think about it Leif, killing her would be doing Sitia a service."

I gaped. Me. A spy? I began laughing. My first mission with Valek to General Brazell's manor had ended with me getting thrown in the dungeon during the first few hours I was there by the enemy. That would make the worse spy ever.

Leif let out a breath slowly through his clenched teeth. "Roze, give me your word _now._"

I raised my eyebrows at that and sat down on a nearby chair to watch the drama unfold. Obviously I had mistaken how self-deceiving that he could be. I mean, how far was he going to go with this?

Roze laughed scornfully, twisting to try to get out of his hold. "Or what? You'll set fire to my clothing?"She closed her eyes, concentrating, and I could feel the magic fill the air again.

Leif's lips flattened into a thin line and drops of sweat appeared on his forehead as he fought desperately to counter her attack. "Swear or I will inform Irys of your actions."

Despite Roze's bravado, I could see her face pale considerably. I guessed that the other Masters would never approve of killing a student without discussing the consequences and benefits of it first. The magic was immediately removed and she stiffened. Still, she forced out a short bark of laughter. "You really think that Irys, Bain and Zitora would believe your word over mine?"

"Obviously, since you're acting like you just commited a murder," I cut in. By the way that she flinched, I was almost convinced that that _was_ what she had done. Who the hell was Roze Featherstone?

Shooting me a look of pure hatred, Roze jerked away from Leif. "She will always be dead to me, since that's what she should be. And I'm not going to go teach a corpse. Go find someone else to do it." And then, without glancing back, she floated through the arch of the doorway, her light blue skirt fluttering behind her.

"Great," Leif muttered. "_Now_ what are we going to do?"

* * *

In the end, it was Fourth Magician, Irys Jewelrose, that agreed to mentor me. The remaining three Master Magicians had had a meeting to discuss what was to become of me. Zitora Cowan had only become Second Magician around a year ago, so she didn't have the experience or skill to take on a student yet. Bain Bloodgood was too busy doing research in his library on the benefits and dangers of a new drug called Curare to teach me anything. So it all came down to Irys, a tall woman with straight dark hair and eyes that matched mine.

Irys had told me to meet her tomorrow after breakfast in her tower at the Keep and to go to the stables to choose a horse for myself this afternoon.

"A horse?" I asked in confusion. Only the dignitaries and high ranking military officers in Ixia were permitted to ride horses. The rest of the soldiers had to travel by foot.

"While I know that most people don't ride in Ixia, as a student of the Keep, you will have to learn to ride. Once you are a trained magician, you will need to know how to get to places with people in need fast," Irys explained as she played with her feather quill.

"But...but..." I wasn't planning to become a magician! I was only going to stay in this forlorn, cold place until I gained control of my magic and then I would be able to join Valek again. I couldn't stop a small smile from flitting across my face as I thought about him.

The look on Irys's face stopped me from saying anything more. I didn't want to argue with her, who seemed like the only nice person in this place. Was Sitia always this hostile? No doubt it was due to the fact that people kept on accusing me of being a spy.

"We will talk about it later, yes?" Irys flashed me a warm smile as she opened the door and gestured for me to follow her. We came out of the building and onto the perfectly manicured gardens of the Keep, which were full of blooming, exotic plants that I had never seen before.

"I am happy to have a student of my own," Irys announced as we traipsed along the stone path. "You're my first, and I hope that you'll tell me if you think I'm being too harsh. I want to get this right."

"I'm your first student?" I asked. "I was under the impression that Master Magicians took more students than the other magicians that work at the Keep because, well, they're _Masters."_

"Oh no, Masters are frequently called to help the populace with the more serious problems so most of the time, we're gone on some mission or the other. Except for Zitora, of course, since she's young and inexperienced. We don't usually have the time to teach."

I tipped my head as I thought this over. "Why are you teaching me, then?"

Irys sighed. "I've known Roze for many years and we've worked together on a lot of missions. But I've never really gotten close to her. All I know is that sometimes she takes an intense dislike to some people and most of the time, there's no changing her mind. You seem to be the new object of her antagonism." Ha! That was an understatement. "You'll have to weather it out until she finds someone new to pick on. Meanwhile, you can come to me if you need anything."

By this time, we had reached what I supposed was the stables and after thanking Irys, I went inside. Creaking open the heavy wooden door, I breathed in the smell of straw and horses. Peering into the darkness, I looked for the Stable Master.

"Hello? Is anyone there?' I called out uncertainly.

A blond head appeared from the stall and gazed at me for a long time. "Hello," the man replied, staring at me.

I was confused. Why was he staring at me like some kind of candy? "Are you the Stable Master?" I asked.

The man emerged from the third stall, dusting the straw from his hair and clothes. Now that I could see him more clearly, I could ascertain that he was only one or two years older than me, with pale blue eyes. They were nowhere as blue as Valek's. The man smiled ruefully as he continued to swipe at some stubborn pieces of straw in his hair. "No, but I'm the closest thing you can get to that right now."

"Where is the Stable Master?" I asked tersely. I didn't want to just stand around the make small talk with a complete stranger, even if he seemed relatively friendly.

"Oh, come on, am I really such a bore?" The man strolled closer to me until he was only a two feet away. He flashed a grin. "Don't answer that."

I immediately stepped back, suspicious. What did he think that he was doing? "Thank you for your time, but I'm leaving," I said brusquely and I turned to go.

His hand clamped down on my wrist and I reflexively pulled out my bow, landing a solid blow on him with it. He managed to duck but had to let go of me. We stared at each other, and his eyes held a strange intensity that made me uncomfortable.

"I apologize," he finally said. "I just wanted to...er, show you some of the horses?"

I smiled rather stiffly and didn't bother responding. Obviously the man was insane and I had no intention of sticking around to witness anymore.

"Please," he said sheepishly as he looked away from me and ruffled his hair again. "Let me make it up to you."

My conscience forced me to follow him into the stable. He reminded me a little of Mek, who would always apologize immediately after we had a fight. Speaking of Mek, I wondered whether or not he had reached Sitia yet. The Commander and Mirela had promised to send him to Sitia after he finished identifying the orphans whose magic and souls that Mogkan had stolen. I just hoped that I would see him again one day and that he would be able to find his family successfully.

The stable was cramped and almost all the stalls were empty. The air had the smell of old straw and horses. "All the horses, except for the sick or elderly ones are outside grazing," the man explained after he saw my confused expression.

I turned to him. "I need to pick out a horse so I can learn to ride. Where should I go?"

"I'll bring you to the pasture right now," he said as he pushed open a back door to the stable. The bright sunshine contrasted drastically with the dim, musty stable and caused me to wince and cover my eyes with a hand.

When I got used to the brightness, I looked around in wonder. The hills were filled with free roaming horses of all sizes, colours and patterns. The man gestured to a closed off area to the left, telling me that those were the horses that were not yet claimed.

At his insistence, I climbed over the wooden gate and walked towards one of the four horses there. This horse had sable patches and the one thing that I had immediately noticed was the fact that she had blue eyes unlike any of the others. Eyes like a certain someone that I was also thinking of. Yes, I was definitely going to choose this horse.

"What's his...or her name?" I called out to the man, who was leaning on the fence and observing with interest.

"Never mind that, just choose another one," he said, frowning.

"Why?" I looked over the horse. There didn't seem to be anything wrong. The hooves weren't covered by horseshoes, but that could easily be remedied. The horse's colour was glossy and the mane was full and relatively tangle free.

"She's a walleye. Bad luck."

I scoffed. Bad luck because of eye colour? Shaking my head, I leaned in and let her sniff my hand. I then reached into my pocket and extracted an apple that I had had the foresight to bring. She chomped it down enthusiastically and leaned into me, nuzzling into my pockets to look for more treats. I took that as a yes.

I then led her to the man, who frowned in disapproval and looked like he was going to say something. Before he could, however, a student came running towards us.

"Cahil!" The boy who was running towards us was around 15 or 16 and panting with exertion. "I think there's something that's going to interest you! An Ixian spy is now in the Keep and she's supposed to come and choose out a horse today!"

* * *

Soo...what do you think?

Question:

Is it Irys or Iris? So confused.


	2. Chapter 2

Looks like Valek made an entrance even though I didn't really mean for it to happen! Oh well.

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Yelena POV

"Who?" Cahil demanded. I rolled my eyes at his obtuse thinking.

The boy's eyes widened in incredulity as he gestured wildly at me. My heart began racing. Oh no. Was I going to create yet another enemy just because I was Ixian? Cahil took his time turning around, slowly pivoting on his left foot until he was facing me fully.

"_You_,"he said, his face turning slightly pink. With digust or anger, I couldn't tell.

I started walking away from him, towards the apprentice wing, where my room was assigned. I wasn't going to stand around and be either interrogated or worse, attacked because people kept on thinking I was a spy. Were all Sitians this closed minded when it came to Ixians?

Well, I couldn't really blame them. After the Commander had taken over Ixia and closed off the border, Sitia lost a valuable trading partner and many of the necessities needed to sustain life while Ixia just lost luxury items. But after finding some resources in the Emerald Mountains, which were a continuation of the Ixian Soul Mountains, Sitians were content with keeping the peace. Still, everyone here was wary because somehow they believed that one day the Commander would no longer be content with Ixia and would use his undefeatable army to take over Sitia as well. Brazell and Mogkan had almost done that and it was only because Valek killed Mogkan that that situation never came to be.

When I looked back to see what Cahil's reaction would be, all I could see was his expression, filled with a mix of anger, shock and fascination, while his lips formed what seemed to be an unrepeatable curse.

* * *

When I came out from my rooms to the dining area to eat my dinner, I was greeted by hundreds of unwelcoming stares, from students as well as some teachers. Leif and Irys weren't there, which meant that everyone there thought I was a spy and was content to treat me as such. Fine. If that was the case, I would actually act like an Ixian spy.

Taking my filled tray, I brought it to a relatively empty table in the crowded room. The two young girls there left as soon as I sat down, shooting my nervous looks as they did so. Great. More room for me.

Inhaling deeply, I forced myself to keep a calm exterior. After all, one of Valek's spies wouldn't let the enemy know that they were nervous or frightened, would they? Though they probably wouldn't look around the room arrogantly or sniff in the air either. Forcing my hands not to shake, I spread some syrup on my sweet cakes. My only consolation was that the Keep served sweet cakes, my favourite meal.

It seemed as if everyone was watching me eat the first bite of my sweet cakes. The silence was truly disturbing. Lowering the fork, I looked around at everyone emotionlessly and almost immediately, the dining area filled with noise again as the students gossiped among one another, most likely about me, from the various looks that they shot my way. Sighing, I took a gulp of the cold water and tried to tell myself that in a week, everything would be better once the students got used to having me around.

A tray scraped onto the table in the spot next to me. Looking up, I saw a trio of students around my age or a little younger.

The girl with the auburn hair smiled at me and extended her hand. "Hi, I'm Corinne, this is Dax." Here she gestured at the tall blond young man next to her. "And this is Rowena." The girl behind them both seemed exeedingly shy and she was hesitant in shaking my hand. The first thing I noticed about this bashful girl was that her eyes were _exactly_ like Valek's. They were the same shade, color and even shape. For a moment, I had the feeling that the two were related somehow, but I just brushed it off. Valek couldn't have relatives down south, could he? That would be interesting. The anti-magician with a magician relative.

"I'm Yelena," I told them. "Now that the introductions have been made, would you mind telling me why you've decided to come meet an Ixian _spy_?" The last words were spoken bitterly and immediately I wished that I'd kept my mouth shut.

Dax shot me an incredulous smile. "Are you kidding? This way, we get to be the first to know what it takes. Plus when we want to gossip, people will actually want to hear about what we want to say."

Corinne jabbed her elbow in his ribs. "We noticed that you've been given the silent treatment all day and we wanted to come and make you feel more at home. We know exactly what you're going through."

"You do? What did you...I mean, why were people treating_ you_ like this?" I frowned in confusion.

They all sat down and arranged their trays in front of them, as if they didn't want to answer.

"It's fine if you don't want to tell me," I said hastily.

Dax spoke first. "No, it's alright. I have the gift for being able to read and understand dead, archaic languages, so Master Bloodgood personally selected me to become his pupil. That immediately sets you in an uncomfortable position because the other students dislike anyone that's singled out."

Corinne nodded knowingly as she buttered some bread. "They were all hostile towards me and Rowena because we're the last descendants of a clan that used to be very powerful in Sitia. They...we were called the Kala Clan but eventually our population dwindled until we were no longer considered a clan. Rowena and I are the last of our clan."

I refrained from asking about their parents. The answer would probably be painful to them. "So it seems that the students of the Keep dislike any outsiders or anyone not like themselves, regardless of the circumstances."

Dax laughed. "They are invariably sheeplike in their thinking."

Corinne snorted. "What does that make us? The wolves hiding in the herd of sheep?"

"Are we really as dangerous as wolves?" I said thoughtfully. "After all, it's not like we want to hurt the rest of the students or anything."

"That...depends." Corrine turned to look at me, her green eyes inquisitive. "Are you really a spy like everyone says you are?"

Finally! Someone was giving me a chance to deny anything that might be said about me. "No, I am not," I said firmly. "But I _am_ Ixian."

"It's alright." Rowena laid her hand on my arm. This was the first time during the conversation that she had said anything. I noticed that when she spoke, she did so very quietly as if she didn't want to disturb the world with anything that she had to say."Once they get used to you, they stop doing this. Corinne and I had to endure it for around a month."

I was filled with a cautious hope. Maybe this wouldn't be as bad as I thought it would be. On the other hand...a _month_? "Thank you, Rowena."

* * *

Valek POV

I cursed under my breath. It was quickly turning dark and there were storm clouds in the distance. I briefly contemplated staying in an inn at Fulgor. If barely anybody knew what I looked like in Ixia, it would be almost impossible for anyone to identify me by looks alone here. I had also taken the precaution of donning a disguise and darkening my skin tone. Still, would I take the risk?

Eventually the idea of having a warm bed and a fire won me over and I gave in reluctantly. After all, I would need to conserve all the strength I had if I was going to track down Moira's sister. As I came to an agreement with the innkeeper, I wondered if this Neri could possibly be as good a fighter, or even worse, better than Moira. If so, it would indeed take the combined efforts of Yelena and I in order to bring her down.

Yelena...I missed her more than ever, especially now that I was once again in a room that strongly resembled a broom closet. I would give anything to be reunited with her once again. I sat up as I realised that I _would_ be seeing her again. Not anytime soon, but I would see her. After all, if I was going to have to go to every clan in Sitia to hunt down Neri, I would reach the Citadel sometime during my search and I could perhaps just drop in to see her.

Smiling ruefully, I acknowledged the fact that it wouldn't just be dropping in, I would actually stay for a long, long time. And so I couldn't risk having that temptation. So therefore, I was going to search the Citadel _last_ and hopefully by the time I get there, Yelena will be done with her training and I can take her away with me.

Hearing a noise coming from behind the door, I grasped some darts and a dagger from my belt and climbed up the wall ledges to the ceiling. I held onto the ceiling beams to stop myself from falling and dangled from above, not unlike a spider. A timid knock caught my attention again.

"Come in," I called. I used some ventriloquy to make it sound like I was lying down in the bed. Hopefully if the person wanted to attack me, they wouldn't look up until it was too late.

A moment later, the knob turned and a servant girl in her young teens peered in. She stepped inside and seemed geniunely distressed to see nobody inside. She left a sheet of folded paper on the bed and looked around with a terrified look on her face. I bit my cheek to stop from laughing. This was proof that meeting Yelena had truly changed me. Before this, I would have only observed this situation in a calculating way.

After checking in the closet for dead bodies, the girl ran out of the room, presumably rushing to everyone about ghosts and spirits. In her hurry to get out, she had left the door open and once I was sure she was gone from the hall, I dropped down from the ceiling and closed it before going to the bed and unfolding the small scrap of parchment.

My heart warmed as soon as I realised it was a letter from Moira. Instead of letters, there were rows upon rows of Ixian battle symbols inscribed on the thin parchment. I scoffed at Moira's carelessness. Any Sitian who opened this beforehand and saw the symbols would immediately view it as a suspicious item. Still, I suppose that it was alright, since I was the one of two people that had the book to translate the symbols and it must have been an important issue for Moira to have taken such a risk. Whipping out my copy, I got to work.

Decoded, it read:

_Dear V._

_Forgot to tell you one little detail before you set off. N. also goes by another name: Desta. Also was last seen in Booruby. Burn this as soon as you finish reading. Good luck._

_Love, M._

_PS. Remember to keep your knives sharp and your guard up. N. is more skilled than you would ever believe. _

Throwing the letter in the fire, I thought about what Moira had said. If it meant keeping the peace, I would sacrifice everything. Even my life.

Watching the letter slowly burn to small ashes, I thought about my ulterior motive for coming to Sitia. It had something to do with my past. After the King's guards had killed my brothers, my mother had died soon after of grief and the loss of will to live. My father, on the other hand, had becomed a hard, cold man that seemed to have been transformed into an ice replica of the warm, caring man he once was. My mother's death had only made him worse.

When I left to train to be the assassin that I was today, my father hadn't remained at our home on the ice pack. Instead, he had packed a small bag and left the place that harboured so many painful memories. After all these years, I still couldn't blame him for that. How could I, when I did the same? I still haven't encountered him after all these years and I had doubts that he was even alive. I only got one letter from him, and that was when I was just starting my training.

He had told me to fight to live, since that was the only way that I could survive, and that he wasn't coming back. I was then truly alone. The only thing that I could tell from the letter was that it came from Sitia, because the letter was written on a special type of papyrus that was only made in the Emerald Mountains. But if he _was_ alive, I would find him. This way, I would be able to search for Neri while also keeping an eye out for him.

And if I ever saw him again, there were many things that would have to be said, not all of them what you'd expect a son to say to a father he hadn't seen for over a decade.

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters protrayed in any of Maria V. Snyder's books. Including Valek. *sob*

This applies until the end of this story. :)


	3. Chapter 3

I apologize for not updating this for such a long time. Due to a serious case off writer's block, my mind shut down for a while, but I am now back on track!...hopefully...

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Yelena POV:

Life in the Keep was trivial, and I settled into the routine of waking up, doing work, and going back to bed again. Of course, with breaks for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Irys had tested me for any abilities that I might had magically. While it was proved that I excelled in magic that involved the mind, I couldn't do anything physical like move objects using the power of my mind, or light a piece of dry wood on fire. But then, I had Leif for that.

Dax, Corinne and Rowena had all been very supportive of me, even if the other students didn't take to me as well. They did petty things to me like tripping me and pretending it was an accident, spilling soup on me, making me drop my books, etc. Cahil had also been distant and disdainful around me, but at least he kept his feelings to himself while he taught me slowly, but surely to ride.

I was moping; there was no other word for it. My life was boring as of the moment and I was slightly amused by the fact that unless something dangerous happened to me, I wasn't quite happy. That wasn't entirely true, however, and I just wanted Valek to come.

While my life had been boring, Corinne's certainly wasn't. She was now being very secretive and very often, I would catch her skipping classes to go out to the gardens. One day, out of absolute boredom, I followed her and was astonished to see her in a shady corner with another girl around our age. Both were dressed in dark clothes and wore a black cloak with an intricate design inked in red on the back. They dipped their heads together consulted with each other for a moment, before slipping around the corner and disappearing outside the Keep.

I moved to follow, intent on finding out what Corinne was trying so hard to hide. A hand reached out and tugged me into a dark shed. Gasping, I spun in outrage to my attacker and kicked out at him.

The man pushed me away from him, against the wall. I squirmed away. "Who the hell are you?" I gasped.

I could see that he was one of the gardeners here. His unkempt curly hair fell over hsi face, concealing it so that I could see him clearly. When he brushed it away, I almost gasped again. He was probably the most attractive man that I had ever seen, with his warm toned skin and laconic smile. What caught my attention more than anything was the fact that his eyes were two different colours. One was hazel with bright green specks and the other was grass green with golden sprinkles. Huh.

"I'm the person who just saved you from a whole lot of trouble," he informed me brusquely as he walked away.

What? "What kind of trouble are we talking about?" I demanded, pulling his arm back so he faced me.

He looked at me with such intensity that I flinched and drew back. "Trust me, stay away from those two. They will bring nothing but death and blood."

This words caused a chill to run down my spine. "What? Why?"

He turned around the corner, shaking his head. When he disappeared from view, his disembodied voice floated around the bend distantly. "Remember me..."

I ran after him, but when I looked around, there was nothing but thin air. He was gone.

* * *

Valek POV:

Booruby was undoubtably a market town. The streets were bustling with noise and activity, all the merchants on either side of the streets were advertising their own wares. Children ran underfoot, getting in everyone's way and twice I had to lift a hand from my bag to prevent being pickpocketed. Amateurs.

This time, I had disguised myself as a woman, thinking that most people would be more likely to talk to an undistinguished female rather than an intimidating assassin. The only other time that I had dressed up like this was when I was spying on the royal family in Ixia to gain information before assassinating them. I had forgotten how uncomfortable it was. My skirts fell to the floor, and the wig itched. I'd had to stuff my chest with wool handkerchiefs and needless to say, I didn't want to repeat this experience. Ever. Again.

Of course, I had also put on some makeup to seem like a woman, rather than a grown man in a frilly dress. Oh, if Ambrose could see me now, I'd never live it down. I groaned when I realised that I still had to meet my operatives at Booruby to enlist their help. In my costume. Holy snow cats, as Janco would say.

More than anything, I missed Yelena. I would gladly give up everything just to go to her, but for my commitment to catch this Neri, or Desta. And anyways, I couldnt' go to her like this anyways, wearing this..this...

My thoughts flew away when I glimpsed one of the signs frequently put up by merchants to attract more customers. "Find your Destiny," it read in bright blue letters. Underneath the large letters were instructions telling me where to go as well as a picture of a crystal orb. I hesitated for a moment, but decided to go. There wasn't any harm in trying, after all. Desta and Destiny sounded similar and for all I knew, this could be it. Plus, if my instincts were right, like they usually were, I wouldn't have to meet my operatives looking like this. I was surprised at how much that prompted me to investigate this seemingly harmless fortune-telling booth.

The part of the market that this booth was at was shady, to say the least. Here, people didn't loiter, and they hurried to get their tasks done and return home as soon as possible. I felt a prickle of danger...and when I did, something was wrong. I thought about that for a moment before I realised that this was just too obvious of a place for it to be. If Neri, or Desta was as dangerous as Maryse said she was, then she would already be anticipating my arrival. That said, she would also place traps for me once I came to this booth. And then, who knows how long it would take for me to get out of that mess.

However, I couldn't just abandon all my obligations and ignore this. Immediately, I bent down to pick up a handful of sand and wiped it on my face, as well as my clothes. I could now blend in with the most poverty-stricken citizens and would not stand out in this part of the market. Of course, the people walking around me looked at me like I was crazy. I would sneak close, but not actually go there. Hopefully, someone could have their fortune told and I could see what these people were about. If Neri made an appearance, I was pretty sure that I could spot her, even if she had makeup on. She and Maryse were sisters, so I had that close family resemblance to work with.

As I came closer, I glimpsed many people that seemed to be Sandseeds. This was highly unusual, since people of that clan usually like to stay in the Avibian Plains. They were conversing with a customer.

The man who was getting his fortune told flipped out three tarot cards. From the distance I was at, I could only tell that all of them were a rusty-red colour.

"Blood is in your future," the woman in the flowing gown intoned hypnotically. "Blood will be everywhere. It will be your only salvation..."

I was taken back by that. Didn't most of these people just tell their customers what they wanted to hear so they would get more business? However, I had to remember that nothing about this was normal. Taking advantage of the situation, I snuck into the back of the booth without being seen.

The back had a flap that led inside. I dropped to my knees and wriggled through, cursing my long skirts in the process. Inside, I could see that there was a flap that blocked off the front room from the back. In the back, there was a wooden crate, which had been used as a desk, judging by all the ink marks on it. A stack of papers was under the crate and I could see that they were just recordings of all the fortunes that they had told. I scanned through a few of them. Bloob, blood, blood and more blood. These people really didn't know how to do business.

My breath caught as I suddenly thought of something. Using my nails, I dug into the dirt under the papers to reveal more crinkled papers. They were all written in code and it was one that I didn't know. I wouldn't be able to take these away with me, as soon as the people noticed that they were missing, they would suspect something. The only thing that I could make of it was that they were all signed _D._ and the paper came from the Citadel, judging by its quality and the trademark stamp.

I swore silently. Yelena was at the Citadel. If something happened to her, I would never forgive myself.

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Yelena POV:

Stumbling into my dark room, I sighed and fell into a chair by the fire. I had just gotten back from a torturous riding lesson with Cahil and I was exhausted. A month had passed and while the other students of the Keep had learned to back off, Cahil still endeavoured to make my life as difficult as possible. He told me to do impossible things and then sneered at me when I wasn't successful. I considered broaching this with Irys, but I didn't want to make her life any harder. These days, she always had dark circles under her eyes, even though she didn't seem depressed at all. It seems that Corinne wasn't the only one with secrets.

Sighing, I changed into my nightgown and crawled into bed. I lay there, staring up at the moonlit ceiling until my eyes began to close of their own accord and I drifted off.

Some time later, I woke to the panic one feels when there is a stranger in one's room. I sat up and felt frantically under my pillow for my switchblade, my throat constricting in fear. The shadow moved closer very quickly. Gasping, I held it out and unsheathed the blade, stabbing it into the general direction of my attacker.

Before I knew it, the blade was wrenched from my grasp and a body slid over mine, pinning me down on the bed. The person blocked out the moonlight, so that all I saw was pure darkness.

I held still, wondering what the shadow would do with it. My wrists were pinned on either side of my head and the shadow leaned in closer. I tried to squrim away in terror, until I caught the faintest whiff of...musk.

"Hello, love. Have you been good while I was gone?"

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Please review...I'm getting an idea of where the story is going, but nothing really firm. *sighs*


	4. Chapter 4

Here is the fourth chapter. Slightly easier to write than the last...

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Yelena POV:

I frowned and gradually laid still, my heart slowly returning to a normal rhythm. "Valek?" I whispered.

I felt, rather than saw him lie down next to me. I shifted over to make room for him on the narrow bed and he wrapped the blanket tightly around both of us, bundling me very close to him. Then he leaned down to capture my lips with his for a long time. I smiled as he kissed me...I had missed him so much for the past month.

"Surprised?" he asked as he pulled away and adjusted himself so that his chin rested on my hair.

I buried my face into his neck. "Just a bit," I admitted. "I thought that it would take longer for you to find her."

He laughed silently and moved away momentarily to slide my switchblade under my pillow again. "Are my abilities really so deplorable?"

I was serious now. "Where is she now?"

He didn't respond for a long time. "She's...here."

I gasped. What was the woman planning to do? Assassinate all the Master Magicians and the Sitian Council? From Mirela's descriptions of her, it seemed entirely possible. "What are we going to do?"

He told me everything that he had found out in Booruby and I sighed when I realised we now had to actively investigate the Citadel and especially the Keep when all I wanted was to get away from this place. Yes, I had friends, but that didn't mean that I felt welcome here.

"The only thing we can do is secretly search her out and find out what her plans are before stopping them. I know that sounds simple, but it's effective." He sighed and pulled me closer to him. "Since I'm not supposed to be here anyways, I'll stay in the safe house I have near the market here and head out to investigate everyday."

"You have safe houses here?" Now that I thought of it, it made sense. How else was he going to gather information about Sitians comfortably? And anyways, his operatives would need somewhere safe to stay. "Do you have to? Can't you just stay here?"

"As much as I'd like that, love, I can't. Most, if not all, the Master Magicians probably know how I look. Staying here would only blow my cover."

"You could stay out in the market during the day and come here at night." I pulled away to look at him.

He opened his mouth to reply when a distinct knock sounded from my door. He swore and leapt out of bed, disappearing into the shadows. I peered around to make sure I couldn't see him and then pulled out my switchblade from under the pillow again. Slowly, I crept towards the door, keeping the weapon behind me and cautiously opened it. Who the hell went around waking people up in the middle of the night if they weren't violent or insane?

...Corinne, apparently. She stood in the dark hall wearing that same black cloak that I had seen earlier. She was holding up a tiny stub of candle to illuminate the darkness and she appeared to be very,very frightened. My initial reaction was fear as well and I wondered what could have happened. Seeing her being so secretive all month and after the warning from that mysterious man, I really wanted to know what was going on.

"Yelena," she said, and I could hear the hint of tears in her voice. Now that I looked closely, her eyes were bloodshot from crying and she looked very haunted.

Looking down both ends of the hall to make sure she hadn't woken up anyone else, I yanked her inside my room and shut the door, crossing to my table to light a proper lamp. I found a glass and poured a cup of water for the poor girl, who looked as if she desperately needed it. She sank down into an armchair facing the bed and I sat on the bed across from her.

I sent a silent apology to Valek. It looked like this was going to take a while to resolve. I was relieved that he was here, at least. He always knew what to do.

Meanwhile, Corinne had her face hidden behind her hands and seemed to be at the end of her rope. I handed her the glass of water and she sighed, sitting up to take a sip.

"Now, tell me what this life-threatening situation is," I ordered sternly.

Corinne's face, which had just been starting to regain some colour, turned white again. "You have no idea how accurate your description is," she said in a hushed tone. "You have no idea what just..." She paused, her face distressed and conflicted.

"If you don't tell me what's wrong, I won't be able to help you," I prodded gently. "Come on, it can't be that bad. Whatever you did, I'm sure won't get you kicked out of the Keep."

To my horror, a tear began making its way down her cheek. "It's much much _much_ worse than that. I..." She trailed off and her eyes closed. She set down the cup of water to rub her temples. I was beginning to get really concerned. Usually, Corinne was very carefree and cheerful. I had never seen her so serious and genuinely distressed before.

"I saw my friend being slaughtered," she finally said in a dead voice. "She was being tortured, then killed, and there was nothing I could do to stop it."

As Janco would have said, _holy snow cats_. I tried to keep myself from panicking. "Have you told the Master Magicians...or _any_ magicians, for that matter?" I ventured cautiously.

She shook her head and her eyes became even more haunted, if possible. "That's the problem, Yelena! I _can't._ The people that killed her...they were...they..."

She began to spin a tale of terror. Combined with the dark settings and time of night, her words really scared me. She and her good friend, Janira, had joined a club that held secret meetings once a month. They had done so because they were both not popular with the rest of the student crowd at the Keep and had thought that joining social activities would make them fit in. However, this plan quickly turned into a disaster.

At first, the meetings were very friendly and fun; most of the people were either Corinne's age or older and during meetings, they would talk about their day and help each other solve their problems. That didn't last very long.

Soon after, the meetings became more frequent. It became once every two weeks, then once a week, several times a week, and now, everyday. That explained whhy Corinne had skipped class so much. The meetings became more and more...intense. The leader of the meetings was a woman that wore a porcelain mask with black roses etched onto it. It covered her entire face and she wore very concealing robes so that her only recognisable feature was her voice.

This woman (Corinne was fairly sure she was female) usually said a word or two of introduction and then left the members to converse among themselves. As the meetings became more and more frequent, she stayed long and began talking to the various members there. She also began to introduce the concept of blood. Corinne told me that this woman had told the members of an ancient ritual that the early Sandseed warriors had used. By taking someone's blood and injecting it into a magician's body, the magician would gain more power. Moreover, if the donor was a magician as well, the burst of power would be bigger and the magician would gain more.

Since the club was not limited only to the students of the Keep, there were also members that were not magicians. They were especially excited about this information because most of them envied others that had magical power and wanted some of their own. They quickly became the woman's biggest supporters. The rest of the members besides Corinne and Janira also seemed to fall under the spell of power, all united under the universal desire for..._more. _The meetings became obssessed with this topic and soon, the woman began telling them more, and then the threats came.

It started out with small ones, such as "Don't you dare tell your mother, or I will have to kick you out" and progressed to "If you tell, I'll kill you." Corinne and Janira had been frightened into submission, and by now, it was too late to stop going. They had to go, or the leader would have them kicked out of the Keep.

I scoffed at this fact. "How the hell would she be able to kick you out? She doesn't have the authority and chances are, what she's doing is illegal so the last thing she wants to do is to go to one of the Masters about this."

"NO!" Corinne slapped her hands over her mouth when she realised that she could have woken up the entire apprentice wing. "Don't do that," she hissed at me desperately.

"Why?"

"I...I...Janira is dead," she finally blurted.

I felt dizzy. "What...what do you mean? Are you saying that because she was in your club, she died?"

She met my eyes directly and the guilt in them would haunt me for a long time. "I'm saying that she was murdered by the club."

I just hoped Valek was listening attentively, because at this point, I knew I couldn't handle it alone. "What would the club gain by murdering one of it's members?"

I suddenly realised just as she told me. "Blood."

This was sickening. This group of people had just slaughtered an innocent just to gain some so-called power? They decided to kill just on the basis of a myth? "Corinne, we have to tell the Master Magicians about this right away. If it's an entire organisation..."

Her eyes closed and panic constricted her face. "I told you, we _can't. _If we do, they'll go after Rowena next."

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What do you think? Please review!:D


	5. Chapter 5

I am considering putting Gelsi into this fanfiction, but I have forgotten how old she was and which class/grade she was in...anybody know?

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Yelena POV:

There was only one thing that I could think of to do. And so I did it without any hesitation. "Corinne," I said very calmly and quietly. "There is someone that I want you to meet."

To do him credit, he didn't pounce on me or anything like that, but I could literally feel waves of fury emanating from the shadows. I winced. No doubt I was going to get into a lot of trouble for this. But I suspected that this...club...was somehow connected with Neri. My instincts were telling me this and they hadn't failed me yet. Besides, there was no harm in investigating and helping Corinne. That way, we'd kill two birds with one stone.

Corinne stared at me incredulously. "Are you joking? This is not the time for this!"

I forced to remain calm. "This person will be able to help us."

Corinne closed her eyes and breathed out what sounded like a sigh. Of relief, I thought. "Alright, let's go now." She stood up and wrapped her cloak around her, preparing to leave.

"No! Corinne, stay. The person is right here!" I grabbed her arm and pushed her back in her chair.

She looked at me quizically while I beckoned like an idiot towards the shadows in all directions. It wasn't my fault that Valek had hidden himself so well. Scowling fiercely like I had guessed he would be, he came out and stood before us with his arms crossed imposingly.

Corinne turned to look at me and I could see a whole host of questions in her eyes. Questions like: What the hell is a scary-looking guy doing in your room in the middle of the night _with_ your permission?

"Corinne, er, this is a...friend of mine. I believe that he will be able to help us in fixing this." I gestured awkwardly between them both. I hadn't wanted to give away Valek...I had already angered him enough by exposing the fact that he was there.

"Corinne?" Valek's voice was neutral as he extended a hand towards her. She grasped it uncertainly and looked up at him as if wondering who he was. Valek shot me a look that made me shrink back and said," I'm Valek."

Her eyes blinked almost comically as she took in this information. Then her back became ramrod straight and she glared at me, seething. "This isn't funny, Yelena! If this is your twisted idea of some joke..."

"He's actually Valek," I interjected. I would have thought that she would have believe me and been terrified.

"Yes, that _is_ what most people call me," Valek said dryly.

She drew in a deep breath. "No way," Corinne said almost disbelievingly. "So it's true?" She turned to me. "You really _are_ an Ixian spy?"

"No!" I said hastily. "Valek and I are on a mission to catch...someone that's a risk to both Ixia and Sitia. We only want to prevent her plans from taking place."

I could see that she was still in denial so I nudged Valek. He got my hint and sighed in resign. A second later, he had used some sort of sleight of hand to produce a wickedly sharp blade that glinted in the candlelight.

"Choose a target," he said to Corinne. I covered my face with my hands. How was I going to explain knife marks on my walls or furniture to Irys?

She pointed a quivering finger towards one of my very narrow bedposts. The knife was almost immediately embedded point-first into it's centre and almost pushed right through it. I shot a glance at Valek before I went to the bed and jerked it out with effort, then returned it to him with a disapproving frown.

"Do you believe us now?" Valek asked, tucking the knife into his belt with the rest of his darts and daggers. He didn't wait for her assent, and turned towards the door. "Good, let's go."

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Valek POV:

I led the way to a conveniently placed stool under a window on the far side of the room. Yelena and Corinne looked confusedly at the door before I hurriedly jerked them both up the stool and out the window. I could only hope that the guards patrolling today were lazy and sleepy. I could conceal myself and probably Yelena as well, but with the amount of noise Corinne was making, there was no doubt that we'd eventually be discovered.

I couldn't remain angry at Yelena as we threaded our way through the maze of streets of the west side of the Citadel, where the slums were. This proprietress could very well be Neri, although it seemed to obvious to be her. After all, if she was such a threat to both Ixia and Sitia, there was no way that she would do the dirty work herself. No, the best thing that we could hope for was for the possibility to dig some information out of what could be a potential minion.

Corinne was shivering as she ran, her thin cloak not sufficient for the damp night. It had rained just an hour ago, and the air was still fresh and cool as it was during the storm. I looked to Yelena and discovered that she was wearing nothing but a thin robe over her nightgown. She hadn't had time to change. I shrugged out of the cloak that I had the foresight to snatch and wrapped it around her. She smiled gratefully at me and I felt warm despite the frosty temperature outside. A light mist of rain began to cover us in layers as we ran and fog seeped into every corner, eventually blocking our sights.

Finally, we stopped at an undistinguished looking building. It was exactly the sort of building that I would have used for my encounters with my associates. It looked exactly like the other buildings on either side of it and the only factor that had varied was the number plaque on top of the door. Corinne hesitated before the door, her hand poised to knock.

"Should I?" she whispered. Without waiting for a response, she drew her hand back to pound on it.

I quickly grabbed her hand before she could alert the club members that we were there. Obviously this girl was not used to stealth.

"What do we do?" Yelena looked worried, with her brow furrowed. I was suddenly struck with the wish to just be with her, even for just a moment. No problems to think about, nobody to track down, just the two of us, together.

"Sneak around the back," I signed to her. Luckily, I had taught her the most basic hand gestures in case of an emergency and she seemed to have remembered them.

She nodded and tugged her friend with her. As we were halfway there, a light went on in the uppermost window and there was a dark shadow as a face peered out. I quickly reached out and pulled the two of them against the brick wall, keeping them still and silent. A few moments later, the shadow dissapeared and the curtains were drawn over the window, concealing anything that was going to happen inside.

Corrine's face grew paler, if possible. "Her," she said unintelligibly.

"Who?" Yelena said.

"Her. The leader of the club. The one who initiated the...murder...of Janira," Corinne choked out. "I swear, I'll kill her. She tortured Janira before slaughtering her with a knife you know. Her bodyguards held me still and made me watch...Janira suffered. She...she..."

I had seen it before. People that had lost someone dear to them would at first be in shock. The initial wave of pain would be waived off until the shock wore off. And then, in most of the cases that I had witnessed, the person would usually suffer a mental breakdown, or at least become very distraught.

Corinne seemed to be in the middle of the two, which was understandable. But we couldn't have her with us, since it would now endanger the mission. While I wanted to have Yelena as a back-up, getting rid of Corinne was more important at the moment.

I signed to Yelena to take Corinne back to the Keep. She glared at me in outrage and signed back that she wasn't going to drop everything just to oblige me and that she needed to be there to look in on the club as well. But when I finally reminded her that the mission could be jeopardized, her shoulders drooped in defeat and she gently led her friend away.

When they were gone, I looked around to make sure nobody was around, then scaled the wall thanks to my grapple and rope. I climbed up onto the roof and began to search for a rooftop opening, which was a common characteristic of the houses in the Citadel. Sure enough, I found it on the other side of the roof and put away my grapple and rope to exchange it for a knife. Nobody seemed to be inside the room that I was looking into, but I wasn't fooled. There were many assassins that had been led to their deaths by assuming too much.

I took a match out of one of my many pockets, lifted open the opening cover, and dropped it inside. I heard no sounds of a reaction, and so quickly leapt in, keeping my knife ready. A quick survey of the room told me that nobody was there and strangely enough, the room seemed to have no door. I investigated all the walls for cracks to indicate that a door had been bolted shut and painted over but found nothing.

The only bit of furniture inside the room was a musty bookcase, which seemed to have been mournfully neglected. My eyebrows shot up as I realised that the entrance to this room was probably a secret corridor behind this bookcase. Shaking my head, I began pulling up random books until the casee began to slide open with a groan. When the case had opened sufficiently, I took a step inside only to shrink back out in surprise.

The dead body of a young woman hung from the ceiling of the corridor. Her face was so pale that all her blood must have been drained and her ragged clothing carried rust-coloured stains. This must be Janira, since the corpse was fresh, probably dead for only a few hours.

I stiffened as I felt a sharp blade press against my neck. My attacker had been so silent that even I did not detect anything.

"What are you doing with my cellar?" a whispery voice said against my ear.

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Does this sound too much like a murder mystery novel? :D


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